Japanese envoy to visit Sri Lanka in bid to ease tensions
An explosion killed two neighbourhood guards today as officials announced a visit by a Japanese peace envoy aimed at easing tensions that have pushed Sri Lanka to the brink of civil war.
The blast in the northern garrison town of Vavuniya also wounded two other guards when the group of four were returning home on bicycles after night duty, said the area’s senior police officer Jagath Abeysirigunawardena.
A second explosion rocked the city’s central district hours later and gunfire could be heard, local journalist Sanath Priyantha said, but he had no further details.
It was not immediately known who was behind the attacks in Vavuniya, which is about 130 miles north of the capital, Colombo, and is the last government-held town before territory controlled by the Tamil Tiger rebels.
Tiger rebels have in the past targeted such neighbourhood guards, who are villagers appointed to help police guard their communities.
Recent violence – including two days of government airstrikes against Tamil rebel bases late last month following a suicide attack by a suspected rebel on the army’s Colombo headquarters – have pushed a four-year-old ceasefire between the government and Tigers to its limits.
